Tang Shaoqing stood on the top of the city, looking nervously at the soldiers of the Qi army who were demolishing the Jingguan a mile away. He was extremely anxious and muttered silently: "Hurry! It's over quickly!"
"Du Tong, it's the Song Army. The Song Army's cavalry is coming!" A soldier pointed to the north and shouted.
Tang Shaoqing's heart seemed to sink into an abyss. He saw that in the darkness, a group of cavalry was silently killing the Qi army. The distance was less than 200 steps, but the Qi army did not seem to notice it.
"Sound the alarm!" Tang Shaoqing ordered urgently.
'Dang! Dang! Dang!'
The alarm bell rang on the top of the city, which was particularly harsh in the dark night, and the sound also traveled very far.
Jingguan was only half demolished. Suddenly, a rapid alarm bell sounded from the top of the city. General Han Qiao also suddenly saw the cavalry coming from the north. Their sight was blocked by several private houses.
"retreat!"
Han Qiao shouted, and the soldiers panicked and turned around and ran away. Another general, Song Ling, also calmed down. Even the other five thousand people were wiped out. They only had one or two thousand people. Didn't they come out to seek death?
Song Ling also shouted: "Retreat quickly!"
Two thousand soldiers of the Qi army rushed towards the city gate a mile away, but less than half a mile away from the city gate, a group of cavalry suddenly came from the south at such a high speed that they cut off their retreat.
The cavalry were extremely ferocious, stabbing the Qi soldiers fiercely with their spears. Chen Qing's cavalry also caught up behind them. They rushed into the enemy group, slashing with swords and spears, and killed the Qi soldiers until they howled like ghosts and wolves.
Han Qiao felt extremely regretful and shouted: "Break out! Break out!"
"It's useless to break out, just suffer death!"
A cold and stern voice came from behind him. When he turned around, a general passed quickly past him, and at the same time there was a crescent-shaped lightning. The lightning flashed in front of him.
"puff!"
Han Qiao's head was cut off in half by Chen Qing's crescent halberd, and his brains spattered out.
Chen Qing didn't care about the enemy general. He directly charged into the enemy soldiers and started killing. Fang Tian's halberd slashed left and right, and there were sounds of cracking bones, minced meat, screams, and wails. Chen Qing looked like he was being killed.
God was reborn, and wherever he passed, there were corpses everywhere, and he was buried with corpses.
On the top of the city, all the soldiers were frightened and trembling. They had never seen such a cruel demon. No wonder Wanyan Loushi also died in his hands.
Tang Shaoqing originally wanted to send troops out to respond. At this moment, he also lost his courage and immediately shouted: "Close the city gate and pull up the suspension bridge!"
The city gate was closed, the drawbridge was pulled up, and the two thousand Qi troops were completely abandoned. Another general, Song Ling, met Yang Zaixing and was killed by Yang Zaixing with a single shot.
Two thousand people had no way to escape and could not surrender. In despair, they were killed in batches by the Song army's cavalry. None of the two thousand people escaped, and they all died under the iron hoofs of the Song army.
It was getting daylight, and the battlefield outside the city finally became quiet. Corpses were everywhere, blood flowed into rivers, and the pungent smell of blood filled the sky. Crows of crows came everywhere to look for food, circling in the sky and squawking.
Chen Qing led the cavalry to the east, but was nowhere to be found. There were only frightened soldiers on the city walls. It was not until noon that the Song army was confirmed to have left. Tang Shaoqing then ordered the city gates to be opened and soldiers to go out to collect the corpses.
.
"Tang Dutong, where did Chen Qing's army go?" Zhang Zhongxiong walked up to the top of the city and asked.
"I don't know either!"
Tang Shaoqing shook his head and said, "I don't understand what kind of medicine he is selling in his gourd?"
"It is said that he led his army to the east. Could it be that he went to Huazhou and Tongzhou?"
"Who knows?"
Tang Shaoqing was very depressed. In just two days, Chen Qing killed 7,000 of their 20,000-strong army, while the opponent only had more than 2,000.
Tang Shaoqing suddenly had the idea in his heart that the hero would retire and return home.
.........
The Qi army deployed 50,000 troops in Guanzhong, of which 10,000 troops were broken into pieces and scattered in various counties. Another 20,000 troops were stationed in Jingzhao City, and the remaining 20,000 troops were distributed in Zheng County and Fengyi County.
Shangluo County, Tongguan, Pujinguan, Wuguan, Lantianguan and other three cities and four passes.
Zheng County is the prefecture of Huazhou and an important garrison point for the Qi army, with a garrison of 3,000 people.
The day after leaving Jingzhao Mansion, Chen Qing led 2,500 cavalry to Zheng County.
Zheng County is also a large county with a city circumference of 30 miles. During the Xuanhe period, the population of Zheng County once reached hundreds of thousands. However, with the invasion of the Jin Kingdom to the south, the Jin soldiers attacked Shaanxi Road twice, causing great harm to the people of Shaanxi and Zheng County.
It brought about a devastating disaster, and hundreds of thousands of people in Zheng County died and fled. After the Battle of Fuping, the entire Guanzhong area was starved to death and devastated.
Now there are only tens of thousands of people left in Zheng County. Unlike the economic recovery of Jingzhao Prefecture, Zheng County has not imported much people, and it still looks dilapidated and withered. In the past, the farmland was overgrown with weeds, and the uninhabited villages have long since
Abandoned, many houses have collapsed, and the mountains, fields, rivers, and villages are covered with snow, and there is no life in sight.
Zhang Xiao, who was wearing a scribe's robe, introduced to Chen Qing: "The villages in the south of Zheng County are still a little bit alive, especially near Huashan. The Jin soldiers haven't passed by. The villages there are inhabited, but the north is not. It's deserted everywhere. The county seat
It’s okay to be reluctant.”
When it comes to the countryside around Huashan, Chen Qing has something on his mind. His predecessor was a young man named Chen Shangyuan from here. Of course Chen Shangyuan was killed in the Battle of Fuping, but where was his family?
After pondering for a long time, Chen Qing found a very capable confidant soldier and gave him a few words. The soldier changed his clothes and rode a mule south.
In the morning, the team rested in a pine forest about ten miles away from the county seat of Zheng County.
At the same time, Hu Yanlei led several scouts disguised as businessmen to Zheng County to check the situation.
Hu Yanlei brought more than a dozen mules and a few men to Zheng County, but saw that the gate of Zheng County was closed tightly. He held a curtain at the gate and shouted: "I am a businessman in Taiyuan. I need to buy some dry food. Please ask the military master."
Open the city gate!"
After a moment, a soldier poked his head out and asked, "Where are you from?"
"Come here from Jingzhao!"
"You haven't met the Song Army cavalry?"
Hu Yanlei immediately understood that Zheng County had received the news, and there should be pigeon letters between them.
"We didn't see it. I heard that the Song Army's cavalry went to Shangluo. Please open the door!"
The soldier waved his hand, "You go around! There is an order from above that the city gate is strictly prohibited from being opened. There is nothing we can do."
Hu Yanlei had no choice but to lead his men around to the East City Gate. The same was true for the East City Gate. The city gate was closed and the soldiers above felt like they were facing a formidable enemy. With no choice but to lead his men, Hu Yanlei had to find a path back to the black pine forest.
After Chen Qing and the generals listened to the report, Yang Yuanqing said: "Since an honest attack cannot be carried out, maybe a night sneak attack can be successful?"
Chen Qing frowned slightly, "This is not like a sneak attack in Pingliang County. We have internal agents. We have nothing in Zheng County."
"The meaning of humble duty is to storm the city gate at night."
Chen Qing shook his head, "That's not necessary."
After a pause, Chen Qing continued to explain: "The enemy must be heavily guarded at night these days. Our night attack will inevitably cause heavy casualties. Even if we capture the city gate, we will still fight in the streets inside the city. It will be a disaster for the people. This is not ours."
Original intention.”
Yang Yuanqing said apologetically: "It's because of my humble duty and lack of consideration."
Everyone was helpless for a moment.
At this time, Zhang Xiao, who had been silent, said: "Actually, I have an idea."
Everyone looked at him. Zhang Xiao scratched his head and said, "I have an intuition that Zheng County's army will be transferred to Jingzhao."
"Why?" Chen Qing asked.
Zhang Xiao smiled slightly and said: "Because of Liu Yi, the number of troops stationed in each county was originally 300, but he could not accept that the number of troops stationed in Jingzhao City was less than 20,000, so he forcibly reduced the number of troops in each county to 100.
Now Jingzhao's army only has 13,000 people. With his timid character, he will definitely not be able to accept it. He will definitely mobilize troops from various places to replenish Jingzhao. The reason why he has not moved now is because we are still in Guanzhong."
Everyone understood, and Yang Yuanqing smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang means that if we pretend to evacuate Guanzhong, Liu Yi will redeploy his troops."
Zhang Xiao smiled and nodded, "It's just my guess, it may not be accurate. Maybe he will ask Liu Yu to send more troops to Guanzhong."
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "If Liu Yi mobilizes troops from various places, where will he mobilize?"
"The first is the army in Zheng County. Zheng County is very close to Jingzhao. It doesn't matter if there is an army in Jingzhao. It doesn't matter whether there is an army in Zheng County. The second is the army in Fengyi County. Shangluo's army will definitely not be mobilized. Shangluo must be prepared for the Song army.
To attack Shangzhou from Xiangyang, I conclude that six thousand troops from Zheng County and Fengyi County will be mobilized."
Chen Qing glanced at everyone, and everyone laughed and said: "Mr. Zhang's suggestion is good, you can give it a try by pretending to quit!"
Seeing that there was no objection from everyone, Chen Qing made a decision immediately: "Then we will pretend to retreat from Jingyuan Road!"